Texas Olympic athlete Johnny Quinn (second from left) tweeted this photo of him and some of his fellow Texans before the Sochi Games opening ceremony Friday

Updated at 7:08 PM CDT on Friday, Feb 7, 2014

With hashtags like #TexasPride and #TeamTexas, local Olympians Jordan Malone and Johnny Quinn gave their fans a backstage and front-row view of the 2014 Sochi Olympics opening ceremony Friday afternoon.

While Quinn, who will be competing in the two-man and four-man bobsled events for Team USA, gave a joyful play-by-play in photos of his teammates and of the Russian ballet and theatrical performance of the opening ceremonies, speed skater Malone tweeted a heartfelt message about how his dream of being an Olympian now has happened twice.

While many athletes skip the opening ceremonies to rest up for their upcoming events, it was no surprise that Malone, from Denton, Texas, was present Friday afternoon.

The Wall Street Journal reports that in the 2010 Winter Games there was much controversy when the U.S. short-track speed skating officials forbade its skaters from attending the ceremony. But Malone went anyway.

"He told us we were abandoning our country if we walked opening ceremonies," Malone said. "But the way we looked at it was, 'No, we're really abandoning our country if we don't.'"

Keep an eye out for Malone in the 5000m relay semifinals on Feb. 13, the 500m heats on Feb. 18, the 500m quarterfinals, semifinals and finals, and the 5000m relay final on Feb. 21.

As for the ever-exuberant Quinn from McKinley, Texas, you can find him in the four-man bobsled runs on Feb. 22 and 23 on NBC.